It is often desirable in machining a work piece to mount it in a machine vise, on a drill press or on a lathe so the work piece is oriented in an unusual position. In the case of a machine vise, the vise jaws, by themselves, cannot readily orient a work piece in all possible desired positions. This has presented some problems because it is tedious and time consuming to orient a work piece manually using only the vise jaws themselves. Generally, shims, gauge blocks, a sine bar or other mechanical supports have been used to facilitate mounting a work piece in unusual orientations, However such tools lack locating means, such as pins or other stops, to assist in positioning a work piece between the jaws.
One or more attempts have been made to provide a device for orienting a work piece in the space between a pair of vise jaws. One of these attempts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,479. FIG. 1 of that patent depicts a block 20 having a plurality of holes R1 and R2 arranged along curved paths. The holes are adapted to received pins as shown in FIG. 4 of the patent. The pins are used for positioning a work piece W between the jaws of a vise. Block 20 and the holes therein for receiving the pins support a workpiece in only a limited number of operative positions. Thus, the structure disclosed in this patent fails to support a work piece between the jaws of a vise in an unlimited number of operative positions.
Other disclosures include U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,682 which shows a vise with a movable jaw that includes a rotatable platform 30. The rotatable platform 30 can be set to any inclination using an indexed rotator 34 protruding through a window formed in the top surface of a front plate 50 of the movable jaws. FIG. 2 of this patent shows the rotator 34 and the platform 30 disassembled from the front plate 50.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,930,132 shows a sine bar 22 in FIG. 1 on the upper surface of which are secured a fixed back up jaw 39 and a movable pressure jaw member 51 to form a vise for holding a work piece W. U.S. Pat. No. 3,188,076 shows a jig that is substituted for the tool post normally secured to the compound of a lathe for clamping a work piece to the compound of a lathe.
The above prior art fails to show or suggest a tool for orienting a work piece in an unlimited number of operative positions between a pair of limits when the work piece is mounted between the relatively shiftable jaws of a machine vise. Because of this limitation, a need exists for a tool that effectively and conveniently supports a work piece in an unlimited number of different orientations such as between the jaws of a vise. The present invention satisfies this need.